The Nissan Path

I have owned my Pathfinder for a year now, and while I like the power the V8 has, I have found the brakes to be lacking. Not sure what pads are on it now, but they haven't been up to the task of stopping a 5,000lb SUV with any sort of authority. In the past I have tried upgrading pads and lines on other vehicles, going so far as having custom Carbotech pads made for one of my Land Rovers. A pad upgrade on an SUV with undersized (IMHO) can only do so much, so after a terrifying panic stop, I knew it was time to get some bigger brakes on the Pathfinder.

Stillen makes the only upgrade I could find, and while it looked nice, the price and unique parts turned me off. I wanted to use as many off the shelf parts as I could for easy servicing in the future. I began my research and found that the V8 pathfinder uses the same front caliper as a 370z with base model brakes. In the 370z community, a popular upgrade is to replace the base brakes with the big 4 piston Akebono calipers and 14" rotors from the Sport model. It's a completely bolt on upgrade, so I figured that it should work for the Pathfinder.



The caliper bolts on no problem, but it is very wide and my wheel contacts it. It looks like I need at least a 15mm spacer to clear the caliper.

Now that I had caliper sorted, I needed to find a rotor that worked. I looked at CTS-V, Viper, GT500, and 370z rotors and found that they all would need some type of spacer between the rotor and hub to line them up with the caliper. The Viper rotor would work best, but the spacer was fairly complex and would have to be about 22mm wide. That means my track width would increase 22mm per side, and that was just a little too much for me.

I had ordered my test caliper from Z1 motorsports, and saw that they make a very nice and (relatively) affordable 2 piece rotor setup for the 370z. I figured that I could adapt this to work on the Pathfinder. I ordered up one of their rotor kits (minus the 370z hats) and will have my own rotor hats made up through Coleman Racing. I already have the design of the hats 90% done, just waiting to actually get the rotors in to verify a final dimension.

Another benefit to the Akebono calipers is a very wide selection of pads. I have narrowed it down to some Endless or Project Mu pads for some serious stopping power.

This covers the front, I have the rear mostly planned out as well. I have put in a lot of research, so if you have any questions let me know. I will be updating this as parts come in and designs are finalized.

Huh, thought this would generate more interest. I requested that the title of the thread be changed to "Akebono brake upgrade for the Pathfinder" to make it more relevant.

Anyway, I got a few more items in for the project.



I went with Technafit since they offered their stainless lines with a gray cover that sort of matches my Pathfinder and the calipers.

Provided FedEx actually leaves my package tomorrow, I should have my rotor rings/irons and banjo bolts from Z1 Motorsports tomorrow. Those pictures will be more impressive!

Once I have the rotor rings/irons I can finalize my hat design and get that over to Coleman to get machined up! Inching closer to getting the front done, then it's on to the rear!

I think it’s a great idea. I’m just curious how they’d fit behind ,my wheels since thy;re aftermarket. I also like the idea behind the concept of using more common items.

Questions though, are the brake lines the same connection from the Pathy to the new Calipers? Reason I ask is because I already have SS lines for the OEM Pathy brakes.

Also, the rotor hats, were the difficult to find/source in our stupid bolt pattern? Since we obviously cannot use Z34 rotors out of the box.

NmexMAX wrote:I think it’s a great idea. I’m just curious how they’d fit behind ,my wheels since thy;re aftermarket.

I think I will make a template or at least grab some measurements so anyone can check their wheels.

NmexMAX wrote:Questions though, are the brake lines the same connection from the Pathy to the new Calipers?

They are the same connection, but the Akebono calipers need a slightly shorter banjo bolt, I picked them up for $2.5ea from Z1 motorsports.

NmexMAX wrote:Also, the rotor hats, were the difficult to find/source in our stupid bolt pattern

I couldn't find anything off the shelf, so these will be custom. Coleman Racing does a lot of custom brake parts for the circle track crowd and have pretty fair prices. The Pathfinder hat will be really simple. It's basically just a .307" flat disc drilled for our hub, wheel studs, and the rotor bolt pattern. Add a little machining to the back and it's done. Really simple piece. I think it will end up around $300 for the pair.

By the way, love your truck. I really want to do the 3.36 gears in mine.

These Pathfinder’s aren’t well characterized. When I was looking for wheels, it was stated that the V8 version had larger rotors than the V6 versions, still not sure on that and I’ve seen V8 models state the rotor size option is the same for both models. Also, many people (sellers/vendors/tireshops) said my current wheels wouldn’t clear the caliper, they do just fine.

Oh yeah got tons of different size banjo bolts, Custom brakes are sorta my thing, and in this case, will be very functional.

tVK has so much low end it doesn’t even flinch when trying to move this huge beast, and 3.36’s aren’t that low, wish I could find 4.10s. I took it to the dump one day and damn, she’s got some mass on her.

My car has FrankenBrakes. It's an 03 Maxima.

Front rotors from an 04+ Maxima, Calipers from an 09 EVO
Rears: Rotors from a ‘12 Acura TL, calipers from an 03 Maxima, caliper brackets from a 94 Maxima, brake pads from a 97 Maxima.




]

NmexMAX wrote:These Pathfinder’s aren’t well characterized. When I was looking for wheels, it was stated that the V8 version had larger rotors than the V6 versions, still not sure on that and I’ve seen V8 models state the rotor size option is the same for both models.

I hope we can clear up all the confusion. The V8 is different then the V6, they have a 320mm rotor vs 295.8mm on the V6. The calipers are different as well, 45mm pistons on V8 and 46mm on the V6 and different brackets. But, the spindles are the same, so they are all interchangeable. That means the V6 guys can get a small upgrade by getting V8 calipers and rotors.

NmexMAX wrote:Custom brakes are sorta my thing

Your Maxima looks great, I bet it stops very well. It is really fun to dig through the parts bin and make a functional upgrade that doesn't cost a whole bunch!

In usual fashion, FedEx didn't deliver on time and rescheduled my rotor delivery for tomorrow, so pics of the new rotors will have to wait...

I ordered some Project Mu HC800 pads today, they are supposed to have a really high coefficient of friction, but not squeal. I read great things about them, and compared to the Endless MX72, they were relatively affordable.

I also ordered my spacers, unfortunately they had to be 19mm to clear the nuts used to retain the spacers to hub. Hopefully the tires don't stick out too much. If they do, I found some pretty cool fender flares for the Navara that look similar to the flares Nissan put on the later Titan and Armada trucks.

NmexMAX wrote: tVK has so much low end it doesn’t even flinch when trying to move this huge beast, and 3.36’s aren’t that low, wish I could find 4.10s. I took it to the dump one day and damn, she’s got some mass on her.

I believe you could grab a 3.69 from a 300zx TT for the rear, and then run a Titan 3.73 in the front. Although that spread is getting a little wide for high traction surfaces, it would likely be fine in low traction surfaces, which is probably the only time you use 4WD anyway. We run 3.90 gears in the rear and 3.92 in the front on Dodge Rams all the time with out issue.

You could also downgrade to the R200 and get a 4.10 gear set. The front is easy again, Titan 4.11. Not sure how the R200 would cope with the power of the V8 and big tires though.

If our over drive was taller then .85 I would consider a deeper gear, but I will only upgrade to 32 in the future, so 3.36 would work alright for me.

Got the rotors in, they are quite large! I put a Nissan key fob on one to give some perspective. I went with the sprinkle slotted for a few reasons, the slots make for a little more agressive feel and apparently help with water evacuation. Also my wife liked them because they reminded her of sprinkles on a cupcake.



Now I have to decide if I want to use the included T-nut and bolt hardware or move to a cap head bolt, nut and Nordlock lock washers. The upside to the included T-nut hardware is that I already have it, the down side is that I would have to redesign the hat to use them, which would likely add a fair bit to the custom hat cost.

I'll update once I submit the the hat design.

Got my Project Mu HC+ 800 pads for the Akebono calipers. Supposed to have a very high coefficient of friction, and really good initial "bite". I had done a good bit of research before hand and read many good reviews. Of course, after I purchased them I came across reviews saying the squeal a bit...so hopefully they don't. Apparently bedding the pads is important with these pads to keep them quite.



I also finalized my rotor hat design. I submitted my sketches to Coleman Racing and they will be starting the actual CAD file and production shortly. It ended up being a more complicated design then I had originally thought, so they ended up being a bit more expensive then I anticipated. But, they will look nice like the hats Z1 puts out. I may spring to have them anodized black too, depending on the cost.

Usually you can get anti-squeaking shims if you ask the seller. At least with EBC Brakes Shop it is so.
If not, I usually use old shims, put some anti-squeak cooper grease for brakes and all is working silently

BTW...European Diesels also have 320mm rotors, but has smaller cylinders and pads:

CLZ31VD (Euro Diesel)
- Rotors: 320 x 28 mm
- Cylinders: 45,0 mm
- Pads: 130 × 42 × 11 mm

CLZ33VB (V6 Gas)
- Rotors: 296 x 28 mm
- Cylinders: 46,4 mm
- Pads: 140 × 47.8 × 11 mm

I do not see particular reason for those differences, except for some math behind, which is also to be considered.

labsy wrote:BTW...European Diesels also have 320mm rotors, but has smaller cylinders and pads:

CLZ31VD (Euro Diesel)
- Rotors: 320 x 28 mm
- Cylinders: 45,0 mm
- Pads: 130 × 42 × 11 mm

CLZ33VB (V6 Gas)
- Rotors: 296 x 28 mm
- Cylinders: 46,4 mm
- Pads: 140 × 47.8 × 11 mm

That is good information, it looks like the Euro Diesel and the USA V8 use the same rotors and calipers.

I wonder how much of an upgrade the Diesel/V8 is over the V6 setup.

I got a cheap hardware kit that didn't include the shims, and now I'm having trouble finding just regular shims by themselves. The search continues!

Got my design back from Coleman, they should go into production this week!



Sorry for the crappy picture, was a scanned PDF that was edited poorly by myself.

Getting closer!

I'll be their 2nd customer!

I'll be their 2nd customer!

kevinthefro wrote:I'll be their 2nd customer!

That might be a possibility! I may end up doing a run of these hats and selling them so anyone can make their own Akebono BBK. I want to do some testing first before I get too serious though.